The first thing I found myself wondering when I visited the myspace page for The Good Natured was why on earth every aspiring “alternative” artist lists Japanese Pop as a generic descriptor for their music which bears little to no resemblance to such oriental greats as Shonen Knife. Perhaps I was biased from the start, but it really didn’t get any better once the audio began. She sounds like a characteristically insubstantial jelly wobbling around in the mould of Bat for Lashes and Florence + The Machine with the vocal capabilities of a toddling Lily Allen/Kate Nash hybrid. Reading the reviews of the Your Body Is A Machine EP, it is difficult to conceive that Rory Carroll is anything but deluded in the assertion that ‘we may finally have a female artist who exists in a land without gimmicks, affected Mockney accents and gigantic quiffs,’ since that appears to be precisely what she delivers. Alright, so perhaps she is actually a Londoner, but that doesn’t mean that her Cockney isn’t to be mocked. The bizarre ensemble of instruments is little other than gimmicky, although it is difficult to tell (and largely irrelevant) whether or not she has a quiff. Her lyrics are, on the whole, dire and tautological. Rose is by far the best of a bad bunch. I’ll give her a few years to grow a pair… of lungs, that is.

3 responses to “The Good Natured”

Controversial! For balance, I must add that I think this record is brilliant, and have been listening non-stop for a week. Yes the Mockney/Cockney voice may be all a bit Lily Allen, but I prefer that to the irritating trend of UK singers who try to sound American. Home-grown irritants are much to be preferred. And the instrumentation, songwriting, and overall sound strike me as original and absorbing. But since you were late to Florence, I’ll give you time to change your mind. 😛

Oh also, point of information: ‘Rose’ isn’t on the EP. It’s just ‘I Pray’, ‘Your Body Is A Machine’, ‘Human Eyes Cry Godly Tears’, and ‘Unlock My Heart’. But you’re right, ‘Rose’ is up there with her best.